Jacques Penot Movies

Roufa (Abdel Kechiche) is an attractive young man, and that works out well for him because he is a practitioner of "bezness:" he's a sex-for-hire boy for the tourists who come to Tunisia. His girlfriend deeply resents his having sex with other women but doesn't seem much bothered that a rich German man he's been having sex with is hoping to sponsor him in Europe. She also has a hard time with his tendency to behave like any other Arab male around a woman, telling her how to take care of her business. As it turns out, she's got better sense than any of the men around her. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Francois Marboni (Victor Lanoux) is a butcher who is being blackmailed for having an affair with the prostitute Rache (Pauline Lafont) in this black comedy. He decides to hire a hit man when the blackmailer demands that he start cutting his profit margin to the bone. Francois soon becomes a target of the hitman he hired. Michel Aumont plays the policeman who also covets Rache, with Francois Stevenin as the hilarious hit man. Marie Laforet stars as Francois' space-cadet spouse Marthe. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, Le Cri du Hibou concerns Robert (Christophe Malavoy), a commercial artist who has moved to a quiet neighborhood in Vichy, hoping to escape a severe depression brought on by the unpleasant breakup of his marriage to Veronique (Virginie Thevenet). Robert finds himself spying on his new neighbor Juliette (Mathilda May), but there's little or no erotic component to his voyeurism -- she seems to lead a simple and well-ordered life, and it makes Robert feel better to watch someone so secure and at ease. Robert even goes so far as to tell Juliette how much her admires her quietly contented existence, but beneath the surface, Juliette is hardly as secure as she looks. Robert's remarks make her wonder if her life has become too placid, and she decides to break off her engagement with Patrick (Jacques Penot) to pursue a relationship with Robert. This sends Patrick into a rage, and he plots an elaborate revenge -- he picks a dramatic fight with Robert, and then goes into hiding, leading people to believe Robert killed him. The ruse fools Juliette, who is distraught at the thought that her new love might be a murderer (even though Robert has expressed no romantic interest in her). Le Cri du Hibou was adapted and directed by France's leading suspense director, Claude Chabrol. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In a simple story, told as a local legend and set against the breathtakingly awesome Swiss Alps, a young man and his uncle go mountain climbing one day and mysteriously disappear after an avalanche -- or do they? Antoine (Jacques Penot) has just gotten married and leaves his bride behind to go on a skiing excursion with his uncle (Bruno Cremer) up the mountain behind their village of Derborence. After an avalanche apparently buries them alive, nine weeks go by and then Antoine comes back to the village. At first, everyone thinks he is a ghost, they cannot believe he really survived all that time. The catch is that Antoine is certain his uncle is still alive, and is determined to go back up and look for him -- leaving his now-pregnant wife behind him once more. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Not to be confused with the 1988 film of the same name, the French Baton Rouge was inspired by a true story. Three young Parisians of modest means (Jacques Penot, Pierre-Loup Rajot and Hammou Graia) finagle their way into a free visit to New York. Once in the Big Apple, the boys become fascinated by the fast-food industry. They return to Paris, bound and determined to open up their own American-style hamburger stand. Unfolding in a relaxed, anecdotal fashion, Baton Rouge served as an impressive directorial debut for Rach Bouchareb. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Unfortunately bound by clichés and stereotypes rather than original insights and new viewpoints, this condensed movie version of an 8-hour television series does not do complete justice to its noble topic of courage in the face of the World War II holocaust. The story is based on the memoirs of Martin Gray (Michael York plays the older Gray and Jacques Penot the younger), a Polish Jew who survived the Warsaw Ghetto and escaped Treblinka, the Nazi death camp where his mother and brothers died. After leaving Treblinka, Martin returns to Warsaw in time to join the Jewish insurrection at the Warsaw ghetto. In 1943, thousands of Jews in the walled ghetto revolted and fought the German occupation forces for six weeks, killing 5,000 Germans but losing their heroic struggle -- that six-week battle is a major focus of the film. Miraculously, Gray survives the war and moves to France where he meets and falls in love with Dina (Brigitte Fossey) -- and then has a major second tragic episode in his life that opens this film, and in the story and in real life it inspires him to write his memoirs. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi